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General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.

CHAPTER 69: SHATTERED

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Tig trotted down the stairs eagerly as he smelled fresh coffee brewing, making it much easier for him to get out of bed today than it had been yesterday. He rounded the corner with a smile on his face as he straightened out his kutte over his wrinkled shirt, seeing Sydney standing at the island with their to-go mugs full as she packed her bag for the day.

Sydney's lips curled up as Tig came into view, unable to keep herself from giggling as he fiddled with his dark blue button-up. "Do you want me to iron it?"

"Nah babe, it's okay… I don't got anyone I need to impress." He winked.

"You should hang it up next time." She raised a brow as the cheeky smile remained on her face.

"Hangin it up would mean that you'd have to spare me some closet space." He countered with a chuckle.

"There's always the hall closet." She smirked as she unscrewed the cap on her antibiotics, tipping out one of the few remaining red pills and dropping it into her mouth.

Tig shook his head as he chortled at her playful solution. "How many more you got?" He nodded to the bright orange prescription bottle.

"Two." She smiled as she tossed the pill bottle into her purse. "I cannot wait to get back to beating your ass on the road." She smirked as she grabbed her cup and headed to the door.

"Hey!" Tig scowled.

"Friday. Be ready!" She called over her shoulder.

Tig shook his head as he inhaled deeply, swiping his coffee and following after her with a smirk - glad to see that the distress she'd been in just hours ago hadn't seemed to have carried over into the new day.

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Donna sat in the same spot that she had been sitting in since she had been brought into the facility during the night, staring ahead hollowly at the TV that blared the screeching of tires as Kenny took advantage of the expensive gaming system that the government funded room had to offer. But finally there was a change in scenery when she saw the door opening out of the corner of her eye, rushing to her feet and stomping over to the skinny, tall woman - ignoring the dizziness that she felt after a sleepless night.

"Tell me what the hell is going on." She demanded.

Stahl licked her lips, sizing up the shorter woman as she turned over her shoulder and whispered to the Agent behind her, asking her if she would take the kids to get some breakfast.

"Sure." The strawberry-blonde woman nodded, giving Stahl a suggestive look that made Donna scowl.

"If that's okay with you?" Stahl turned back to the angry woman.

"Yeah." Donna agreed begrudgingly, knowing that her kids needed to eat and she needed to find out why they had to eat there. "Kids, go with the lady." She nodded out the door, snapping her fingers when Kenny didn't turn away from the TV. Just like his father.

"Hey! Kenny! Come on!" She yelled above the noise. "Go with the lady. She's gonna get you some breakfast." She did her best to sound chipper as her kids eyed her wearily. "It's okay." She nodded, turning back to Stahl the second that the door closed.

"I hope you were able to get some sleep." Stahl looked around the less than comfortbale room as she took a seat on the couch. "This room is only temporary." She smirked.

"I didn't get any damn sleep! Now tell me why the hell we're here."

Stahl nodded slowly, placing a folder on the table which she opened slowly. "You recently uh-" She cleared her throat. "You recently paid off three months of back mortgage on your house in cash… Where did it come from?"

Donna looked away as her hands clasped between her legs. She knew she should have never accepted that damn money...

Stahl sighed as she watched Donna try to ignore the evidence that she had so stupidly left behind. "You spent it. You fed your kids on it. How was it earned?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask."

"You know Donna… Your family is falling apart. I want to help you but-"

"Don't pretend that you give a shit about my family." Donna scoffed.

Stahl pursed her lips, looking down at the contents of her folder as she got back to business. If Donna wanted the hard truth, she would give it to her. "We arrested Bobby Elvis for murder. An eye witness ID'd him and this man." She slammed the composite sketch of Opie down on the coffee table. "Look familiar?" She watched Donna's breath catch in her throat. "I don't think that Opie pulled the trigger, but he was there…" She softened her tone.

Donna felt her lips beginning to quiver as she relived the same nightmare all over again. She put her head down, sucking in a deep breath as she composed herself. "Is he going back to jail?" She asked calmly.

"Not yet, no." Stahl told her softly before it was time to go in for the kill. "But the U.S. Attorney hasn't released the name of the witness, and as far as SAMCRO is concerned only one person saw Bobby commit that murder: Opie." She watched as the realization flooded through the dark haired woman - the realization that this wasn't about turning on her husband, this was about protecting him. "That's why you're here, Donna... For your own protection. Clay and his crew think that Opie has turned."

"Oh God." Donna squeaked as she shook her head slowly.

"Do you have any idea what these guys do to a rat?" Stahl pushed as far as she possibly could.

"No." Donna shook her head, unable to believe that this could possibly be any worse the second time around. "Jax would never let anything happen to Opie! They've known each other since they were kids."

Stahl nodded attentively. "Well, I certainly hope that Jax has enough pull to make that happen - because I can only keep Opie safe for one more day." Unless you give him up.

Donna stared at the pile of evidence in the folder that Stahl had splayed out in front of her, trying to figure out what was best for her, for her kids...

"Without my help, this thing goes one of two ways ." Stahl spoke the horrible words that the poor woman was already thinking. "Opie in prison, or Opie dead."

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Sydney stood at the bar with Gemma, gushing over the exciting news that baby Abel would be coming home on Friday if all went well over the next few days - discussing all of the ways that they planned to decorate Jax's house for the homecoming party while Chibs, Bobby, and Tig played pool during their lunch break.

"Yeah." Clay spoke into his burner as he exited the chapel. "No, me too." He nodded. "Alright, thanks Jason." He snapped the phone shut as he joined the small group of men.

"Rosen?" Gemma asked from across the room.

"Yeah." Clay smiled. "Luann is in the clear. Otto? Not so much…"

"Why? What happened?" Bobby scowled.

Clay began chuckling at the thought. "He shattered Stahl's face…" He grinned.

"Oh I love that man!" Tig laughed.

"Oy!" Chibs hollered.

"Trying to prove to the club that he wasn't gonna give anything up." Clay rounded the bar. "We're clear of the ATF ladies and germs!"

But right as the uplifting words left the President's mouth in the jolly tone, the sound of glass shattering filled everyone's ears, followed by the loud order to get down as the clubhouse filled with SWAT members wearing bulletproof vests and holding machine guns - ready to shoot anybody who didn't comply.

Sydney looked around the room as she felt the panic of the familiar scene filling her chest: yelling, glass breaking, guns… She stood frozen as she watched Jax being slammed against the wall as Chibs was thrown down onto the pool table. She looked to Clay as he got to his knees, giving her a nod of assurance that it was okay; that he was okay - this would not be a repeat of the night she was shot. But before she could even start getting to her knees, she felt a hand on the back of her neck - a hand that violently slammed her face into the hardwood floor.

"Woah, easy there!" A SWAT member yelled across the room as he watched the brutal take down of the innocent girl, looking to his lead Agent to see that she seemed to have no issue with what was taking place…

Stahl watched as Lemmings got revenge on the sneaky little gash, bouncing her pretty little face off of the hard surface just as Otto had done to hers. If Sydney's boys wanted to play rough, she would return the favor. She wanted to see just how much pull the mischievous little girl had without her most precious asset.

Hale felt his eyes go wide when he saw Sydney go down, his blood beginning to boil when he recognized the shiny bald head of the man who had seriously overstepped his authority. He looked to his right where he saw Stahl watching with an evil smirk on her face that told him everything to know - that this was no coincidence, this was a set up. Just like everything else that she did.

Tig watched as the horrible scene played out before his eyes in slow motion as the pussy cop that Sydney had hit during the last raid took the opportunity to seek revenge in the worst way possible. He stayed silent, but the second that he saw her face hit the floor he abandoned any self control that he had left, getting to his feet where he charged at the man standing over her, swinging his fists into his face as hard and as fast as he could before the bullets could start flying. He was going to die for this.

"Don't you dare." A young, new SWAT member heard in his ear as he raised his gun at the rampant dark haired man as he attacked the small town cop, turning to see his Deputy Chief instructing him to lower his weapon.

Stahl's eyes widened with anger as she watched Hale allow the ruthless criminal to take down one of his own men - her face beginning to twitch when nobody intervened as Half-Sack joined in on the beating and Juice and Gemma rushed to Sydney's aid. "What the hell are you doing!" She yelled to Hale. "Control them!"

Hale held off as the two men got in a few more good punches before he finally directed two SWAT members to intervene, watching as they used all of their strength to pull Tig off of the cowardly piece of shit that dared to wear a badge.

Even though Sydney had managed to turn her head quickly enough that her nose didn't break her fall, she still hit the floor hard enough to become stunned as blood pooled below her, gasping for air as it filled her mouth - running down her throat and out of her nose. She blinked a few times, trying to gain her bearings as she looked up to see Tig and Half-Sack being yanked off of the man who had sought revenge on her, and the heinous woman who had allowed him to.

"Robert Munson." Everyone turned to see Bobby being handcuffed. "You're under the arrest for the murder of Brenan Hefner."

"Who?" Bobby scowled.

Everyone's hearts sank as they listened to Bobby being read his rights for the murder of Hefner. Just minutes ago they'd thought that they had managed to evade ATF, but they had been very wrong - it had been quite the opposite.

As Bobby was being escorted out after Tig and Half-Sack, Hale nodded to Gemma who helped Sydney get to her feet - ushering her towards the hallway to sort out her injuries.

"I'll call Rosen, Bobby! You just sit tight!" Clay called after his friend, receiving a hard kick in his thigh from a pointy-toed shoe, looking up to see Stahl where bared his teeth and flared his nostrils.

"Hey!" Gemma yelled as they approached where Stahl was standing above her husband that she had just assaulted. "You stupid bitch. You really don't know who you're messing with…" She told her low and threateningly.

Stahl kicked Clay again, in the side this time. "Manners, darling." She smirked as she pulled her foot back to kick him again. "Manner-" But she was stopped by Sydney spitting blood into her face. She squeezed her eyes shut on impact, opening them to see the little cunt grinning at her with her still perfectly straight, bloodied teeth. She inhaled sharply as she turned to follow her men out the door, reminding herself that she'd gotten exactly what she had come for, and then some.

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"Let them go." Hale told Gutierrez as he approached the squad car where the hispanic man was cuffing Tig and Half-Sack.

"What?" He scowled.

"You heard me." Hale locked eyes with Tig, blinking slowly before turning back to his coworker. "Let them go."

Stahl inhaled deeply as she watched what was happening, stomping over to her Deputy. "Are you trying to blow my investigation?" She sneered.

"She has a fresh gunshot wound and you allowed a man three times her size to use excessive force. I was saving your investigation." If there was one thing that Hale had learned from growing up in a family of politicians, it was how to lie through his teeth while still telling every ounce of the truth.

"Please." Stahl scoffed.

"You still don't get it, do you? These guys are smart. They will bait you into anything that they can if it means that they can use it against you later." Apparently those knocks against the table that blew Otto's testimony hadn't been enough for her to understand that she wasn't dealing with amateurs.

"Is that what she did to you, David?" Stahl raised a brow.

"What?" He shook his head incredulously.

"You need to stop thinking with your dick, Deputy. Because you're right, somebody's going to get hurt." She told him cryptically with an evil glint behind her eye as she turned away.

"I am doing nothing here except what I was hired to do! I am doing my job!" He growled as he grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him.

"Is that what you were doing the other night? Hmm?" She asked as she stroked his face. She no longer had any concerns about the loyalty of her lapdog, she knew exactly where it lied.

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"Stay here. I'll call Tara." Gemma ordered as she sat Sydney down on the edge of Tig's bed, rushing into the bathroom where she pulled a towel off of the rack.

Sydney flinched when she felt the rough material being pressed against her bleeding nose. "Is it broken?" Gemma asked as she recoiled.

"No it's not fucking broken." Sydney choked out as the anger began to take over the shock. "I'm not a fucking idiot, I know how to take a hit." She grabbed the towel from Gemma's hands, finding a position where she could hold it comfortably.

Gemma's heart broke for the young girl, she'd been there before many years ago - hurt, embarrassed, and without her man to comfort her. "I'm going to call Rosen right now." She nodded. "I promise he will get Tig out tonight."

Sydney felt her heart drop to her stomach as she listened to Gemma's words. Tig. She hadn't even thought about what this had meant for him. "Okay." She squeaked as her throat locked up with the realization that he would be going to jail for this, and there was no way that his charges for assaulting a police officer were going to be dropped the way that hers had been - she didn't have a guardian angel that strong.

Gemma squeezed her hand before getting to her feet. She didn't want to leave Sydney alone, but she knew that she would be helping her the most by getting her a doctor, and finding out what the hell had just happened.

As soon as the door closed, Sydney broke down. Even through the veil of painkillers she was able to feel the stinging and throbbing as she began hyperventilating, choking on blood and tears. Her vision eventually became too muddied to see anything as her sinuses closed up, leaving the only way to breathe through her mouth where she was sobbing violently. She got to her feet shakily, running to the bathroom where she coughed up as much of the blood blocking her throat as she could, gripping the edge of the sink until she finally gathered enough courage to look in the mirror. She slowly lifted her head - but her own reflection wasn't what startled her, it was the surprise of seeing Tig standing behind her.

"Baby…" Tig whispered once she looked up, getting a full view of the damage that had been done.

Sydney gasped, spinning around where he stalked up to her and pulled her into his arms. She felt herself breaking all over again as his warmth enveloped her, a feeling that she'd thought had been taken from her.

Tig fought back his own tears as she shook in his grip, pulling away when her watery breathing became labored. "Hey." He took her face into his hands gently, wiping the tears from under her eyes. "I'm so sorry…" His voice cracked as he looked into her pained eyes, seeing that the blood vessels had been broken in one of them - tainting the beautiful green with an angry red. "I'm so sorry." He shook his head.

Even though seeing that somehow Tig was standing there holding her instead of being carted off to a jail cell had flooded Sydney with relief, the pain on his face as he laid his eyes on hers only made her feel ten times worse about what had happened.

"I-" She pulled away from him, clearing her throat as best she could. "Go, I'm gonna get cleaned up." She looked down at her combat boots, taking his place and wiping her own tears now.

"No, baby I-" He began shaking his head.

"Please." She kept her head down and out of his gaze. "I don't want you to see me like this." She whispered.

"I don't give a shit about that."

"I do." She choked out as her voice strained against the overwhelming mixture of emotions that she was feeling. "It's not nice to look at."

"Hey, hey, hey." Tig lifted her face, looking into her eyes deeply - something that he would always do no matter how much it hurt him. "Enough, okay? I don't wanna hear any of that 'fair fight' bullshit. I just wanna help you."

"You can help me by leaving me alone." She lowered her eyes, avoiding the sincerity in his as she felt herself beginning to shake.

"What's this really about, huh?" He coaxed her gently, unable to understand why she was so reluctant to accept his help in times like these.

"Nothing." She sighed impatiently, pulling her face out of his grip.

"Sydney… Please, just-"

"I'm fucking embarrassed, okay?" Her frustration boiled over as her eyes welled up. "Is that what you want me to say?" She asked as her voice quivered.

"I don't want you to say anything… Not if you don't want to." He grabbed her hands instead, squeezing them until he could feel her muscles begin to relax. "I just want you to let me take care of you." He whispered as he rested his forehead against hers.

Sydney exhaled a shaky breath, squeezing his hands in return as she pushed herself to accept his help - no matter how badly she wanted to deny it. She stayed silent the entire time that he spent meticulously dabbing her face clean with a washcloth, gently rinsing her cuts with rubbing alcohol once the excess blood had been washed away. Once he was satisfied that she would be okay until Tara arrived to tend to her wounds properly, he turned towards the bathtub where he began running the water.

"I don't want a bath." He heard behind him, looking over his shoulder where Sydney was staring hollowly into the mirror.

"Okay." Tig nodded, pulling the stopper on the tap where the water began raining down out of the shower head. "Tara will be here after her shift, Clay's calling Rosen to figure out what the fuck just happened." He told her as he walked over to her, placing a hand on her arm. "Did he hurt your leg?"

Sydney shook her head, only knowing that her leg hadn't been damaged any further because she'd been sure to keep it from hitting the floor when she landed. She didn't meet his eyes in the mirror, continuing to examine the multiple sites on her face where she did land that would require butterfly bandages to heal - the side of her nose and edge of her forehead, as well as the bruising that was already forming under her eyes that she knew would be black by morning.

"Do you need anything for the pain?" He brought his hand up to her face, rubbing his thumb over the cut on her lip that was caked in dry blood - the only thing that was holding it together at the moment.

Sydney flinched when the words left his mouth. "No, I'm fine." She turned to face him, still avoiding his eyes. She hadn't even been thinking about the pain, but even if she had - she knew that she had more than enough pills left to manage it.

"Okay." Tig couldn't tell if she was just being stubborn, or if she was actually just the toughest person he'd ever met. "Well you tell me if you change your mind. I'm gonna go get you some water."

Sydney nodded slowly in contemplation as the perfect opportunity arose… The opportunity to get what she had been getting behind his back this whole time, and to get it without the fear that had crippled her nervous system or the guilt that had plagued her with nightmares or - but her ego wouldn't let her take it.

"Stronger than water." She told him as she turned back to the mirror.

"What do you want?"

"I don't care." She stared deeply into the reflection of her lifeless eyes, her voice sounding foreign in its cold tone. "Just stronger than water."

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Happy sat in the driver's seat of the cargo truck as he headed back to the Tacoma clubhouse after safely delivering Cameron and Cherry to the air hangar where Cameron's men would get them safely to Ireland. He nodded gently to the slow rhythm of the music coming across the radio as he chewed on a toothpick, glad to be in his own company again. His two passengers hadn't been particularly talkative - in fact, they had barely spoken at all, but he had always enjoyed the peacefulness of solitude over even the quietest of company.

The mind of the Tacoma Killer was often blank when it was just him on the open road, but today it was clouded. Clouded with thoughts of Sydney, thoughts of Maya. He wasn't used to having obligations to women in his life - except for his mother, of course - not obligations that crossed his mind on the road, at least. He had always trusted that Sydney could handle herself, but that was when he knew what was going on in her life - now he had no idea, and it was nobody's fault but his own.

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"I don't know if this is gonna come out…" Tig told Sydney wearily as he rubbed his thumb over the blood stains on the khaki coloured, jogger-style pants that she had been wearing.

"Cold water and hydrogen peroxide. I'm surprised you don't know that one." She managed a chuckle as she brought the whiskey to her lips, ignoring the sting as it glazed over the open wounds and coated her throat.

"I'm more of a 'strip and burn' kinda guy." He smirked, peeking at her through his eyelashes to see the small smile on her face as she sat naked on the counter.

"Just how I like em." She smirked back.

"Uh, should I wash this separately? On fragile or something…" He asked cluelessly as he held up her lacey, black shirt that he would've considered to be more of a bra with the minimal amount of skin that it covered.

"It's fine together." She shook her head as she zoned back out, staring mindlessly at the white tiles on the bathroom floor as she listened to the water raining down into the floor of the bathtub.

"Okay." Tig nodded skeptically, hoping that she was right because he was not trying to add ruining her clothes onto the ever growing list of things to worry about. "Get in before it gets cold." He nodded to the shower before heading to start her laundry.

Sydney let her head fall as he left, feeling the tears pricking at her eyes again as she focused on each bit of pain that she could feel. She took a deep breath, tilting her head up towards the ceiling where she drained the glass - setting it down on the counter as she slowly made her way to the shower.

Tig returned quickly, surprised that Sydney's hydrogen peroxide trick had worked - something he would have to remember. As he re-entered the room, he was glad to see through the bathroom door that Sydney was no longer sitting on the counter, but the relief was quickly replaced with sadness as he crossed the threshold to see her sitting on the floor of the bathtub with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring distantly down the drain as the water rained down onto her head.

"I thought you were against sitting in the shower?" Sydney heard Tig's soft voice as he settled in behind her, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I made an exception." She turned her head towards him slightly, but not enough to actually see him. "Besides, this is a bathtub so it doesn't count."

Tig smirked, closing his legs around her as he rubbed his hands down her arms comfortingly. "Is this one okay?" He asked as he reached for the white shampoo bottle where he hoped he could free her blonde hair from the red stains.

Sydney nodded, feeling her chest tighten as his hands found their way into her hair, rubbing it between his fingers gently. She let the tears flow down her cheeks where she couldn't see or feel them under the water - but they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears that were fuelled by the one emotion that she still couldn't get a handle on even if her life depended on it: love.

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Hale drove straight to the ATF holding facility as soon as he heard that the witness had been brought in, a scowl coming to his face as he rounded the corner to see a small girl sitting in one of the holding rooms where Stahl was showing her how to work the TV.

"Is she the girl who saw Bobby kill the port commissioner?" He asked out of the side of his mouth as Stahl exited the room.

"Yeah." She nodded as she guided him down the hall. "Eviqua Michaels - we're transferring her to a safehouse until the trial. Then Eviqua Michaels becomes Jane Doe." She narrowed her eyes mischievously.

Hale's face contorted with another scowl as anger took over him once again. "You can't do that!" He shook his head incredulously. "Burying her name to get the outcome that you want… To get somebody hurt."

"Well, I just figured I'd take a page from your book." She shrugged with a smirk, looking over her shoulder where Bill was approaching - just as she had planned. "I'll see you later." She squeezed his elbow with a smile.

Hale stood more confused than ever as he tried to figure out what she had meant by that. Take a page from your book...

"Deputy Chief Hale, I've been instructed to escort you from the building." Bill gave him a formal nod as two security guards approached behind him.

"What are you talking about?" His forehead creased even deeper.

"Agent Stahl's request." Bill smirked smugly.

The moment that Hale saw that same devious smirk on her face from where she stood down the hallway, her words made sense. His cover had been blown. She'd found out about him burying Sydney's records and that was why she'd allowed Lemmings to do what he did. She had waited for the perfect moment to cut him loose.

"Come with me, sir." He heard one of the guards over his shoulder.

"I don't need an escort." He sneered. He had no problem walking out of this place - a place where people played dirty to get what they wanted, not to keep the peace - no matter who got hurt and how badly. He shook his head in disappointment as he passed the golden Liberty Bell that sat above the fountain in the lobby. There was no justice here.

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Tig felt his brows knit in confusion when he heard a drawers closing behind him from where he stood in front of his closet with a towel wrapped around his waist, turning to see Sydney quickly getting dressed in one of his t-shirts and the only clean pair of pants that she had in his dorm at the moment - black sweatpants.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she yanked the shirt over her head and tucked it up under her bra for a more feminine look.

"Getting dressed for church." She replied matter-of-factly as she continued her angry movements - the only way that she could force herself to push through the crippling embarrassment at the thought of facing everybody after they watched what had been done to her.

"You don't wanna stay here while I wash your clothes?"

"No." She told him coldly as she walked past him and out the door in her bare feet. She had cowered last time, she wasn't going to cower again.

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